'Girlfriend culture' against Islam, says Pakistan's Supreme Court

Islamabad: Ruling that a 'girlfriend culture' has no place in an Islamic society, Pakistan's Supreme Court has rejected the bail plea of a man held under cyber crime laws for allegedly creating a Facebook account of his 'girlfriend' without her consent and posting her photos.

The two-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim yesterday heard the bail application of Muhammad Munir, arrested two months ago by the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) for harassing a girl on Facebook.

To the query of the bench regarding their mutual relationship, the counsel of the accused said that she was Munir's girlfriend, as media reported.

"Upon this, the bench remarked that there is no culture of girlfriend in an Islamic society as it is a Western concept," it reported.

Later, the court refused to grant bail to the accused and asked the FIA to submit the chargesheet within 14 days and asked the trial court to decide the matter within six months.

Barrister Masroor Shah appearing on behalf of the applicant submitted that Munir is a computer operator in a government office in Haripur district and the girl Shagufta, who is his classmate, lives in Peshawar.

He contended that Munir had created the account in the name of Shagufta with her consent. He also expressed apprehension over the court's denial of bail and said such kind of cyber laws might be misused.

Earlier, the girl filed an application to the FIA against Munir for registration of a case for creating a fake account under her name.